Expermenting...

I truly adore nail polish. The pop of color it offers is really fun.

I also love changing the presentation of color too.

I've been dying to try something new, and that new thing would be matte.

While I would of course say that Essie's "Matte About You" is really all that, I can't. 

I went the cheep route and bought the drug store brand. I just wanted to be sure that I liked the look of it first. And I do. I really do. The dry time for nails is quite reduced, ALWAYS a plus. This is all very exciting. 

While I can't attest to the staying power of the Revlon, I only put it on this afternoon, it does look good.

A cautionary word about matte, it always looks dry. It's almost maddening. I despise this. I gave it less dry time than the usual thinkng, no shine, less time. But I was wrong. After attempting to open a few things using normal lack of caution I observed the damage that had been done. Another touch up of color and matte they looked like nothing had happened. Another thing about matte, it amplifies EVERY flaw. Be careful that you like the way the color looks before adding a top coat.

Ulta is going to be my next stop for Essie, most likely tomorrow. 

Side note: the green I used is OPI's Don't Mess With OPI

Keep it classy,

~E

Down Right, Up Left.

Over the break I've developed a new hobby... The Kumihimo Disk!

I received it as a Christmas gift from my grandfather and step-grandmother and I've been having a ball with it since it was unwrapped!

The whole premise is it is a foam disc with notches on the sides to move cord around. The cord creates a cool hollow knotted braid. Like this... 

I had so much fun making my bracelets I thought I might show you how to make one yourself!

It's incredibly easy and pretty darn mindless and relaxing, perfect to do in front of an episode of Gossip Girl or a documentary.  

Here's what you're going to need:

Cord

Scissors

twine

Glue

Kumihimo Ends

Kumihimo Disc or a homemade substitute (each disc should have 32 notches)

Here's what you do:

Begin with 8 strands of cord or string. My strings were 18 inches long. 

Tie the ends of all the strings together, feed the ends through the hole in the center of the disc.

Set the disc up like this:

Place two strings at 90 degrees, at 

1 and 32

8 and 9

16 and 17

24 and 25

Then begin, hold the hoop with 1 facing away from you.

Move the string from 1 to the bottom, spot 15.

 Then move the string in place 17 up to place 31.

 Then give the disc a 90 degree turn to the right so 24 and 25 are facing away from you. 

Move the right string (25) down to spot 7 and the bottom left string (9) to the top spot (23).

Give it another 90 degree turn and repeat, moving the top right down to the closest right position and the bottom left up to the closest left position.

Keep on going until your bracelet is as long as you want. 

When you're done take the cord off and put a knot at the end.

Then use your twine to tie off the the end of the cord below the knot on the braided end. 

Once the cord is secured cut the knot off and use jewelry glue and coat the end. slip the Kumihimo end over the end of the gluey cord and leave it for 24 hours to ensure maximum staying. Then assemble your ends with the jump rings. 

Wear your new bracelet with pride.

p.s. use this guide to make new patterns... it keeps things interesting. 

 

Keep it classy,

~E

Soaking In My Lazieness.

Yesterday I indulged in a lovely day. 

One of my best friends Gwen and I headed downtown for lunch and shopping!

We started our day at 10, she met me at my house for some gossip dishing.

Then we headed to the library to pick up a book for my mother.

And then our adventure began...

We hopped on I-45 and headed downtown to one of my favorite restaurants, Beaver's!

Beaver's is a super cool place in the Houston Heights, on the outskirts of Houston.

I love the funky, Austin type flair that the interior exhibits. 

The wall is mirrored and the food is wonderful. My favorite is the Nut Burger. Its made of brown rice and cashews with some red onions, homemade pickles, and a gluten free bun, it's wonderful!

The desserts are great too!

Beaver Balls are possibly among the best ball shaped food ever. It's a series of deep fried brownies (in ball shape) and small ice cream balls. YUM! 

After lunch we headed to one of my favorite shopping sites, Nordstrom Rack! 

We shopped till we dropped and then headed back to the suburbs. 

After that we went back to my house and enjoyed Ellen and What Not To Wear. 

Ellen is always hysterical and Stacy and Clinton are absolutely hysterical. I've loved What Not To Wear for years and Stacy and Clinton have never ever disappointed.

So here's to the lazy days.

Keep it classy,

~E

Celebration

As almost everyone knows, I'm big into "celebrating the little things", but, what qualifies as a "little thing"? Everything. From a sky full of stars to a chance rendezvous with a friend. And something like that happened to me last night.

I have a really nasty habit of incessantly tweeting on my personal account, and I'll tweet almost anything funny. So, naturally, while I was watching Gossip Girl on Netflix, a few quotes got tweeted. But then a really great "little thing" happened. A girlfriend of mine tweeted me back and told me that she was on the same part! It ended up us texting for about an hour about the episode I was watching, she had already seen earlier in the day.

Both of us are Gossip Girl newbies, we got in too late to watch the final season with everyone else. It was really nice to have someone to talk to who has the same first time feelings, shock at Serena for being Serena, horror at Chuck's latest scheme, etc. 

So thank you Morgan! You made my night and Gossip Girl even better.

Don't forget to celebrate the little things, no matter how small. 

Keep it classy,

~E

What's On My Desk?

Today I’ve been inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Carly from The College Prepster!

I’m going to show you what’s on my desk. 

 

 1. nutcracker/bear 2. blue box 3. Sharpie cup 4. water glass 5. e.o.s. 6. family photo 

7.  Lilly pad/stickies 8.  MacBook Pro 9. Kate Spade Laptop case 10. Mirror 

11. Makeup Brushes 12. OPI Nail Polish 13. Sherri DuPree Bemis Print 14. Lilly Agenda 

15. Blue Sky Agenda 16. Starbucks pick of the week

1.     nutcracker/bear- It was a few days to Christmas when I took this picture, these were my desk decorations. When I danced I got a nutcracker after each performance of The Nutcracker. This was from my last year of dancing, 7^th grade.

2.     blue box- My older sister decorated the box years ago. Now I keep my smaller and most immediate DIY craft supplies in it so I can always have them in my reach whenever I’m feeling creative.

3.     Sharpie cup- Really it’s an old peanut butter jar that is covered in Duck Tape. It changes all the time. I adore Sharpies and use them for all sorts of things, especially writing notes to myself.

4.     water glass- I drink water practically 24/7, water is always on my desk or in my hand

5.     e.o.s.- My favorite form of lip balm. I adore things that smell good, and e.o.s. is the best of both lip balm and scent/taste. I have mint, summer melon, strawberry sorbet, and lemon (my favorite).

6.     family photo- I adore keeping mementos of my childhood all around, I think that it helps keep me young. This picture is from when my family went to Sea World when I was five. Side Note: I LOVE Sea World

7.     Lilly pad/stickies- I adore my Lilly paper goods! I can get almost anything I want in my favorite May Flowers!

8.     MacBook Pro- What I do the majority of my blogging on. I also keep my pictures on it and my iTunes.

9.     Kate Spade Laptop case- Beauty! One of the first things I bought for my laptop to keep it protected and stylish. Polka Dots are one of my favorite things too!

10. Mirror- A 15^th birthday present from a friend. I always feel like a princess when I’m looking into it.

11. Makeup Brushes- A cute way of storing my makeup brushes. A small square vase (from my sister’s graduation party) filled with white rice. I love the marriage of the cute and functional that it maintains.

12. OPI Nail Polish- Also one of my favorite things. The color in question is part of the Spanish collection, Manicurist Of Seville. It’s a great burgundy/pink for winter and holiday festivities.

13. Sherri DuPree Bemis Print- A Christmas gift from my sister last year. Sherri is the lead singer of a band called Eisley and married to the lead singer of a different band called Say Anything. Sherri is also an artist, her work is quirky and gothic inspired with a dash of comic book art. You can look at and buy her work on www.sherisink.com

14. Lilly Agenda- My everyday agenda with everything I need to keep my life running smoothly and on track. It even has my monogram on the back! Without it I’m completely lost, I forgot it at home one day and almost had a panic attack in class. Basically my entire life is set by it.

15. Blue Sky Agenda- I plan all my blog posts and keep a schedule for everything Classy Tuesdays in it!

16. Starbucks pick of the week- I love free music and I’m at starbucks at least twice a month for various study groups. I can never resist grabbing one!

Ascending

2012 is almost over and for a fond send off we've selected something a little out of the ordinary...

My father, sister, aunt, uncle, 11 year old cousin, and I are heading up. 

And I mean really, UP. 

We climbed a mountain. 

It's something I'd always wanted to do. Phoenix is littered with mountains, and we've never even attempted one. With the youngest of our climbing parts at 11 the year was finally right. Not to mention that I'm in the best shape of my life. 

 With our rugby coaches out of town, and me in Phoenix, I'm not really able to get the workout that I should be doing.  I'm so excited to get in a good workout that's not from the gym. Climbing a mountain is exactly the challenge that I've been hoping for.

 I really had a ball. Even though I didn't make it to the top, my crippling fear of heights prevented that, I made, what I call, a valiant attempt at the summit. I challenged myself and I'm really happy with how it ended up. Going down was really much harder than going up.
(Really, my hip is still aching.) But there's always next year, right? I can't wait to finally get to the top. The top will be all the sweeter after having it in my grasp.



















Face challenges and  do your best with them.

Keep it classy,
~E

Finding Faults

In following in tradition, my grandparents on my father's side gave me a book for Christmas.

In the past I've gotten books like Wicked, Waiting For Normal, and Memoirs Of A Teenage Amnesiac. All those books have been wonderful reads and true page turners. 

This year I received a  wonderful, terrible book called The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. 

I said, wonderful, however, I also said terrible. I really enjoyed the book. I flew through all 313 pages. Together with the main characters, Hazel Grace, Augustus, and Isaac I laughed, celebrated triumphs, was crushed by disappointments, and cried over tragedy.

The book is about Hazel Grace, a 16 year old battling and eventually loosing to cancer. In a survivors' support group Hazel meets Isaac and through him, Augustus. They bond and hilarity and tragedy ensue. As with any cancer book, someone is bound to die. 

The raw pain cancer and of being a living ticking time bomb are truly artfully illustrated in the novel. 

While I will not read it again unless I need a good, long cry, and I wouldn't have picked it up in the first place it was a good book. 

I have to say, my favorite aspect of the novel was the intelligence and whit of Hazel. She uses her extensive literary knowledge to interweave the words of the author, John Green, with the words of others like Thoreau and Elliot. It created a rich dialogue and an entertaining plot.

Pick up a book and read something for fun this winter.

Keep it classy,

~E